6.  The applicant was born in 1975 and lived in Sevastopol.
7.  In June 2003 the applicant, who at that time was on probation after receiving a sentence for burglary, was arrested and placed in police custody (затриманий) on suspicion of another count of burglary. The date of his arrest is in dispute between the parties. The applicant contended that this occurred on 17 June 2003, whereas according to the Government he was apprehended on 18 June 2003.
8.  On 18 June 2003 the applicant was questioned by the police, in the course of which he admitted that he had participated in the burglary of a house belonging to the sister of his alleged accomplice, Mr Zh.
On 20 June 2003 the Balaklavsky District Court of Sevastopol (Балаклавський районний суд м. Севастополя, hereafter “the District Court”) extended the term of the applicant's police custody up to a maximum of ten days.
9.  On 27 June 2003 the District Court ordered the applicant to be placed in pre-trial detention on the grounds that the offence he was suspected of had been committed while he was on probation in connection with a prior suspended sentence and that if at large the applicant would abscond and thereby obstruct justice.
10.  On an unspecified date in August-September 2003, the applicant was committed for trial before the District Court. In the trial proceedings, he was represented by his mother Ms S., and he retracted the confession statements he had given during his detention in police custody, claiming that these had been given under duress.
11.  During a hearing on 11 September 2003 the applicant informed the trial court that he felt unwell and thus could not participate in the hearing. The presiding judge called an ambulance to assess the applicant's medical condition.
12.  On 29 April 2004 the District Court found the applicant guilty as charged. It rejected the applicant's argument that his confession statements had been given under duress and found that a certificate issued by the Sevastopol City Hospital, according to which the applicant had been treated in that hospital on 21 June 2003 for bruises on his legs, could not be regarded as conclusive evidence of police brutality, as the applicant himself had failed to give any explanation before the court as to how he had come by those injuries.
13.  On 22 March 2005, following an appeal by the applicant, the Sevastopol City Court of Appeal (Апеляційний суд м. Севастополя, hereafter “the Court of Appeal”) quashed the judgment of 29 April 2004 and remitted the case for a fresh examination. The court indicated, inter alia, that the first-instance court had addressed the issue of the applicant's alleged ill-treatment in police custody, although he had never complained before the court that he had suffered any ill-treatment by the police. Without giving any reasons, the Court of Appeal also ordered that the applicant should remain in detention.
14.  On 23 November 2005 the District Court convicted the applicant of burglary and sentenced him to three years and seven months' imprisonment. It based this conviction on the confession statements given by the applicant and Mr Zh. during the pre-trial stage of the proceedings, the victim's oral evidence in court, and statements given by two other witnesses in the course of the pre‑trial investigation. It rejected as unfounded the applicant's allegation that he had been ill-treated by the police.
15.  The applicant appealed against the judgment of 23 November 2005, asking for a reduction of his sentence. On 17 October 2006 the Court of Appeal granted the applicant's appeal and reduced his sentence to three years, six months and one day's imprisonment. The applicant did not appeal in cassation.
16.  According to the applicant, after his arrest on 17 June 2003 he was taken to the Balaklavsky District Police Department of Sevastopol (Балаклавський РВВС м. Севастополя, hereafter “the Police Department”). There he was allegedly subjected to ill-treatment by the police officers, who coerced him into confessing to burglary, with which he was subsequently charged.
17.  On 21 June 2003 the applicant was taken to the Sevastopol City Hospital No. 1 (Севастопольська міська лікарня № 1). According to the certificate issued by this hospital on 15 December 2003 the applicant had bruises on his left thigh and buttocks.
18.  After having received the required assistance in the Sevastopol City Hospital No. 1, the applicant was taken to the Sevastopol City Temporary Detention Centre (Севастопольський міський ізолятор тимчасового тримання, hereafter “the Sevastopol ITT”).
19.  According to the entry in the Sevastopol ITT register the applicant did not have any visible injuries on his admission and did not complain of any ill‑treatment.
20.  During the trial proceedings before the District Court in March‑November 2005, the trial court ordered the Balaklavsky District Prosecutor's Office of Sevastopol (Прокурора Балаклавського району м. Севастополя, hereafter “the Prosecutor's Office”) to carry out criminal inquires into the applicant's allegations of ill-treatment. On an unspecified date before November 2005 the Prosecutor's Office decided that there was no prima facie case of ill-treatment and refused to institute criminal proceedings in respect of the applicant's complaints.
21.  As indicated above (see paragraph 18), on 21 June 2003, the applicant was transferred from the Police Department to the Sevastopol ITT. On 16 July 2003 he was admitted to the Simferopol Pre-Trial Detention Centre no. 15 (Сімферопольський слідчий ізолятор № 15, hereafter “the Simferopol SIZO”). However, since the police, prosecution and judicial authorities involved in his criminal case were based in Sevastopol the applicant was transferred each month from the Simferopol SIZO to the Sevastopol ITT, where he stayed for ten days. From 8 to 28 April 2006 the applicant remained in the Sevastopol ITT as, according to a letter of 4 March 2006 from the Deputy Head of the Sevastopol City Police Department (Управління МВС України в м. Севастополі), the Simferopol SIZO refused to admit inmates of the Sevastopol ITT who were suffering from tuberculosis.
22.  On 28 April 2006 the applicant was admitted to the Sevastopol City Infectious Diseases Hospital (Севастопольська міська інфекційна лікарня, hereafter “the Infectious Diseases Hospital”).
23.  Therefore, between 21 June 2003 and 28 April 2006 the applicant spent a total of around a year in the Sevastopol ITT.
24.  According to the applicant, during his stay in the Sevastopol ITT he was held in small cells which were constantly overcrowded. In support of this claim, the applicant relied on a letter from the head of the Sevastopol City Police Department, issued on 10 May 2005 and addressed to a third person. In that letter it was stated that some 240 inmates were being held in the Sevastopol ITT instead of its capacity of 82.
25.  The applicant stated that he had been held in cell no. 9 for most of the time and for short periods in cells nos. 4 and 5.
26.  Cell no. 9 measured about 15 square metres and had been occupied by 25 inmates. There were three double bunks for three inmates. Cells nos. 4 and 5, both of around 22 square metres, the applicant shared with 30 fellow inmates. They were equipped with one double bunk and wooden planking on the floor, which was also used by the inmates for sleeping.
27.  Owing to the lack of bunks, the inmates had to take turns to sleep. The cells were situated in the basement and were thus deprived of daylight. They were dimly lit by electric lamps fixed into the ceiling, which were never switched off, contributing further to the lack of sleep. Moreover, the air in these overcrowded basement cells could be supplied only though the ventilation system, which was often out of order.
28.  The applicant's cell was infested with cockroaches and ants, and no attempt was made to exterminate them. The inmates in the Sevastopol ITT cells were furthermore exposed to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, which the applicant contracted whilst being detained there.
29.  The applicant further claimed that the food supplied in the Sevastopol ITT was meagre and of poor quality and was supplemented with food sent by his mother.
b.  The Government's submissions on the facts
30.  The Government submitted that whilst in the Sevastopol ITT the applicant shared cells measuring 16 square metres with 4-6 other detainees. The Government maintained that the cells were equipped with wooden planking, ventilation, water supply and sewerage systems. The applicant was provided with hot meals three times a day and the opportunity to wash at least once a week. There were windows, which allowed daylight and fresh air in. In general, the conditions of the applicant's detention corresponded to the relevant hygiene and sanitation standards.
31.  As indicated above, the applicant was transported to and from the Sevastopol ITT each month.
32.  The distance between Sevastopol and Simferopol is about 80 kilometres. The transportation (етап) started at 8 a.m. and, according to the Government, ended at 4 p.m. on the same day. The applicant submitted that it usually took 36-48 hours for him to reach the destination. The applicant was informed beforehand about the journey, and, according to the Government, fed before it started. The applicant submitted that not once was he provided with breakfast before the transportation.
33.  The applicant and the other inmates were transported in police vans to and from the railway stations. These journeys usually lasted 30 minutes. The Government indicated that the vans' design capacity of 20-21 persons was never exceeded. The applicant argued that normally the vans carried as many as 30 persons in a stuffy and dimly lit compartment of 6 square metres.
34.  When in a train the applicant was held in carriages of special design with a capacity of 104 persons. According to the Government, the number of persons in a carriage never exceeded 70. The applicant alleged that it was always more than 100. According to the applicant's account, during this part of the journey he was not provided with food or water.
35.  The applicant's health started to deteriorate in mid-2005. However, as confirmed in the above-mentioned letter of 10 May 2005 by the Head of the Sevastopol City Police Department, the Sevastopol ITT staff did not include a doctor and the “acting paramedic” (виконуючий обов'язки фельдшера) was not medically trained or qualified. As a result, the applicant received no medical assistance from the Sevastopol ITT.
36.  According to a letter of 25 April 2006 by the Governor of the Simferopol SIZO, the applicant had undergone treatment for bronchitis in the medical unit of the Simferopol SIZO between 14 and 27 February 2006. Two X‑ray examinations carried out on 1 and 10 February 2006 did not reveal any pathological changes in his heart or lungs. This letter further stated that on 14 February 2006 the applicant's blood was tested for HIV antibodies. On 21 February 2006 the Crimean anti-Aids Healthcare Centre diagnosed the applicant as HIV positive. The applicant alleged that neither he nor his mother had been informed of this diagnosis.
37.  On 8 April 2006, while he was in the Sevastopol ITT, an ambulance was called for the applicant. The doctor found the applicant to be suffering from “fever of unknown origin” and administered him a dose of a painkiller, which had a short-term effect. According to the applicant the ambulance doctor stated that the applicant required an examination in a specialist hospital.
38.  On 12 April 2006 the applicant complained about further deterioration of his health. An ambulance was called, whose doctor found the applicant to be suffering from an “acute respiratory virus infection”.
39.  On 14 April 2006 the applicant was taken to the Infectious Diseases Hospital. According to the applicant, during this examination he was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and hospitalisation was recommended, which was refused by the administration of the Sevastopol ITT, because it could not afford to detach four officers to guard him in a hospital. The Government stated that the doctors did not find it necessary to hospitalise the applicant, but that they took samples of his blood for HIV testing and prescribed him vitamins.
40.  On 20 April 2006 the applicant was taken to the Infectious Diseases Hospital for further examinations. He was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis and prescribed anti-tuberculosis treatment. The Government submitted that on that occasion the doctors did not recommend his hospitalisation either. The Government further stated that during this examination it was established for the first time that the applicant was HIV positive. The applicant alleged that it was the first time he had been informed about this condition; whereas the prison authorities had been aware of it long before this date.
41.  In a letter of 21 April 2006 the head doctor the Infectious Diseases Hospital informed the applicant's mother that a commission of doctors from this hospital diagnosed the applicant as being HIV positive and suffering from tuberculosis and recommended his urgent hospitalisation.
42.  On that same date the applicant's mother lodged a complaint with the Prosecutor-General, stating that the administration of the Sevastopol ITT had unlawfully refused to hospitalise her son, whose health condition was extremely grave. She stated in particular that since the beginning of April 2006 the applicant's body temperature had remained at around 40 C0, and that he could hardly eat or move without help. The outcome of this complaint is unknown.
43.  On 28 April 2006, pursuant to the Court's request made under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the applicant was transferred to the Sevastopol Anti‑Tuberculosis Healthcare Centre (Севастопольський протитуберкульозний диспансер).
44.  According to a letter from the head doctor of the Infectious Diseases Hospital dated 28 August 2006 the applicant was registered at the Sevastopol Anti-Aids Centre as an HIV patient in May 2006 and received the appropriate treatment.